Figures show the average UK family will fork out £59.11 on costumes, decorations, trick or treat sweets and entertainment.

A total of around £136m will be splashed on food – enough to buy 27.2m tubs of treats – while a further £98m will go on gruesome decorations for Saturday night’s event.

Halloween has now overtaken Valentine’s Day as the country’s third biggest retail event, behind Easter and Christmas.

Shane Forster from Voucherbox.co.uk, which carried out the survey, said: “Due to a visible pattern in recent years, the increasing popularity of Halloween in the UK comes as no surprise.

“However, the amount of money invested in this holiday is still slightly staggering.

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HORROR: They will spend £157 million on outfits alone

“The holiday has become accepted as part of British culture”

Shane Forster from Voucherbox.co.uk

“An estimated spend equal to £7.17 for each UK citizen is a real eyeopener of how much the holiday has become accepted as part of British culture.”

The predicted figures are up on last year, when British retailers reported £442m being spent in the Halloween run-up.

But despite their increasing spend, Brits still lag behind the Americans who are the world’s biggest Halloween fanatics.

Experts predict that this year in the US an average of £14.09 will be spent per person, a total of £4.46bn.

Shane said: “Although 50% of UK individuals in 2014 stated they wouldn’t open the door to trick-or-treaters, the increase in spending indicates this is likely to be a percentage that lowers year on year.

“It will be interesting to see how this holiday is further adopted by the British public, and how spending relating to it develops in the coming years."

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masks

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GASP: Brits will spend an estimated £7.17 each

Meanwhile police are urging shopkeepers not to sell eggs and flour to under-16s.

Officers launched the crackdown in King’s Cross in central London after youths pelted homes in trick or treat pranks in previous years.